Privacy Agreement

Our aims and duty of care

We recognise our duty of care with regards to your data and will always endeavour to do the right thing with the personal data you choose to share with us, including: not compromising your anonymity; protecting your privacy; storing your data securely and giving you control over your own data.

Our mission at Margaret Snider Artistry is to help make women’s lives easier. We believe that securing your data, preserving your anonymity, protecting your privacy, and giving you control over your data are an important aspect of that mission.

We believe that employing data and data analytics appropriately can improve the user experience on Margaret Snider Artistry. Data you give us when filling in forms (when joining, for example or when using the site or our apps) helps us show you more relevant things. It also allows us to see which aspects of the site are popular and well-used, meaning we can improve Margaret Snider Artistry for everyone.

Your data – what we store and why

We store: IP address, cookies, your device’s unique ID, page browsing history, ads you’ve viewed and clicked, searches you’ve made on site, approximate location, and any enquiries you’ve made. For registered members we also store username, password and email address; discussions you may have with Margaret Snider Artistry site moderators; and a summary of decisions we’ve taken if we’ve reviewed your use of Margaret Snider Artistry for any reason. Registered members may also have given us more data on sign up, such as the age of their children.

We store your email address to register you and contact you (if you have asked for email newsletters) and we store things such as IP address, cookies and device ID so that our systems recognise you if you return to Margaret Snider Artistry. We store things such as your device’s reading habits to show you things we think may be of interest to you (eg content or ads). When we look at this information across large numbers of users, it helps us see which parts of Margaret Snider Artistry are well-used and which aren’t, and this helps us to decide what sort of content and features might be useful to develop. Subject to the permissions you have given us (as described in your permissions and choices below), we may also pass your device’s reading habits to selected partners for them to show you things that may be of interest to you (eg content or ads).

We don’t require your name or address when you view Margaret Snider Artistry content or register with the site, and you can use Margaret Snider Artistry fully without providing it.

Subject to your permissions and choices, we collect, store and process the data listed in this section. We believe we provide a useful service, and therefore have a legitimate interest in processing your data which benefits both Margaret Snider Artistry and you as a Margaret Snider Artistry user.

We store the following data for all users, whether registered or not:

• IP address, cookies, device ID – to identify your web browser and device.
• Page browsing information – to enable us to show you more relevant things and to understand how people use Margaret Snider Artistry, so we can improve it.
• Within our user database, we assign your internet browser and device a unique ‘Identity Number’. Against this identity number we record the topic of the content that your device is viewing or creating – in other words, your device’s ‘reading habits’. This helps us understand what you may be interested in so that we can show you things we think may be relevant to you (such as ads or other Margaret Snider Artistry content). When we look at this information from all users, we can see what is popular and less popular, helping us to develop Margaret Snider Artistry over time.
• Ads viewed and clicked and searches you’ve made on site – to show you more relevant ads and content in future.
• Enquiries you make – we sometimes give you the option of using Margaret Snider Artistry to enquire about a product or service (such as getting a quote to repair your boiler). This is optional and we only give users this option if we trust the company and think the service might be helpful to you. We will always explicitly ask for your permission before recording or passing this information to that company or to anyone else.

We store the following information for registered members:

• Username, password, email address – so that you can log in. If you choose to register to use a Margaret Snider Artistry product we ask for your email address so that we can create an account for you and check you’re a real person (to prevent ‘bots’ signing up). We won’t send you newsletters or mass email communications that you haven’t asked for, and we don’t sell your email address to anyone else.
• Discussions that take place over email or via Private Messages between you and Margaret Snider Artistry moderators – so that we have a record.
• A summary of any actions we may have taken with regard to your use of Margaret Snider Artistry (usually in response to reported posts) – so that we have a record and can moderate fairly.

We also store the following optional data for registered members:

• Registration data: facts about you that you choose to provide in the sign-up process, such as your date of birth, gender, whether you are pregnant, whether you have children, their ages and genders, and which email newsletters from us you would like to receive. If you give us this data it helps us to show you more relevant things (for example, sending you emails about pregnancy if you have asked for them). We do not share this information with anyone else. Provision of this data is optional; you can skip this stage.
• Permissions to email you, to send you newsletters that you have chosen to receive.
• Private Messages that you choose to send other users.
• Data that you provide when taking part in surveys, panels, product tests, quizzes or competitions. For these things, we sometimes ask for your name and address (for example to send you a product to test) or other data requested by the competition provider (such as your email address). Before recording or passing this information to another organisation, we will provide the organisation’s data policy and clearly ask for your permission each time.

Children and minors

• Margaret Snider Artistry services are not available to children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 years of age.

Other tracking technologies

Many sites use things like web beacons, clear GIFs, page tags and web bugs to understand how people are using them and to target advertising to them. They usually take the form of a small, transparent image that is embedded in a web page or email. They work with cookies and capture data like your IP address, when you viewed the page or email, what device you were using and where you were.

To avoid web beacons and other tracking technologies, you can normally render them ineffective by switching off cookies in your browser. There are also browser add-ons and extensions that specifically block web beacons.

To avoid web beacons in emails, you can turn off images in your email service. Check your email’s Help section to find out how.

How long is your data held?

Any personal data you give us, or that we collect when you use a Margaret Snider Artistry product, will be retained by us for as long as it’s needed to perform its function. Registration data is held permanently unless you deregister. There’s no one-size-fits-all time limit, but we regularly review the data we hold to ensure it is still necessary.

To give some examples: data provided by members of our Insight panel for that specific purpose is retained for as long as the user remains a member of the panel. Information provided when entering competitions is held for a maximum of three months. Information you give us when you sign up is stored permanently unless you choose to delete it or unless you delete your Margaret Snider Artistry account.

Private Messages are stored until you delete them. If you delete your account, your messages will also be deleted.

We regularly review the data held by Margaret Snider Artistry’s different teams and delete information that is no longer needed. All the data we hold is stored securely and only accessible to authorised staff members, who have regular data training.

Exceptional circumstances – safeguarding and official investigations

If there are obvious safeguarding reasons, or if we are contacted by the police about a possible breach of the law, we may share your personal information with public authorities without your permission. If we are compelled to do so by a court order, we will share your personal data to the extent specified in the order.

If there are compelling safeguarding considerations, we may share your data with public authorities without your permission. We understand ‘compelling safeguarding considerations’ to mean credible evidence of imminent risk of serious harm, especially to a child or vulnerable person.

In such circumstances, on the judgement of a senior person within Margaret Snider Artistry and in consultation with the Data Protection Officer, we may proactively contact relevant authorities (the police or ambulance service, for example) and share any relevant data we have, such as location data, relevant posts, private messages, details of any children who might be at risk, and descriptions of the situation.

If contacted by the police about possible breaches of the law disclosed in posts, we may sometimes – on the judgement of a senior person within Margaret Snider Artistry and in consultation with the Data Protection Officer – share your personal information with them. We will share your personal information if compelled to do so by a court order, for example under Section 5 of the 2013 Defamation Act.

If our data is compromised

If our security is breached, our data is compromised or if we fail to comply with the law, we will tell affected users as soon as we become aware of the failure. We will report any data breach to the Information Commissioner and, if appropriate, the police, in a timely fashion.

Used appropriately, we strongly believe using data improves the user experience across all Margaret Snider Artistry and supports our aim of making parents’ lives easier. Data you give us when filling in forms on site (when joining, for example) or when you’re using the site or our apps helps us show you more relevant things and improve Margaret Snider Artistry for everyone.

If, via human error, or via a breach of our security, we fail to comply with the law, we will let affected users know as soon as we are aware of it. We will report any data breach to the Information Commissioner in UK and, depending on the circumstances, the Police.

All Margaret Snider Artistry use best practice, multi-tier web application security for our servers including Denial of Service protection and Web Application Firewall at the network edge. For staff access to all administrative systems, we enforce 2-step verification and IP-based access restrictions. Regular security updates keep staff informed of the latest security threats.